She and 20 other members of the Whittier Area Peace and Justice Coalition were at one of the city’s busiest intersections Monday night with their anti-Iraq war signs marking the death of the 4,000th American military member killed in action in the conflict.

“We are just bringing awareness to yet another grim milestone of this war,” Moore said.

The deaths of four U.S. soldiers in a roadside bombing late Sunday in southern Baghdad propelled to 4,000 the number of American troops and civilians killed in the war that began more than five years ago.

“We’re losing too many of our young people,” said Moore, 50, as she stood at the corner of Whittier Boulevard and Painter Avenue.

Drivers honked their horns and passengers held out their hands displaying the peace sign.

“It’s so different now,” said Orlando Terrazas, 54 of Whittier. “We used to get the middle finger aimed at us.”

The group began protesting the war at the same corner a few months before it began in March 2003.

“The toll, both in human lives and dollars, has devastated this country,” he said.

For Whittier residents Arturo and Rossana Cambron, of Whittier, the war is deeply personal.

The couple’s 24-year-old son, whose name they declined to say, is an Iraqi war veteran, who’ll be returning with his infantry unit in June.

“He doesn’t want to go back,” said Arturo, 54. “He came back whole, but he was mentally injured.”

Their son has daily flashbacks and nightmares.

“He understands we’re against the war,” said Rossana, 51.

Another coalition member personally touched by the war, is Bill Miller, a retired Methodist minister.

His neighbor, Kelly Bolor, of Whittier was killed early in the war.

“He was a fine person, a great guy,” said Miller, 74, as he held a sign that read, “Jesus: Remember the Prince of Peace.”

Scott Ratigan, 39, of Whittier has been out at the same corner every Sunday since before the war started.

Sandra Molina is a native Southern Californian, the oldest of three children raised by a single mom who named her after Dodgers great Sandy Koufax. She grew up in Monterey Park, but was schooled in Tarzana, through busing, and East Los Angeles. She is a proud alumna of Garfield High School in East Los Angeles; Rio Hondo College in Whittier; and Cal State University at Long Beach, where she earned a BA degree in English Literature. She began a career as a freelance writer and photographer in the San Gabriel Valley in 1997, in addition to being a writer/photographer for GoGirlsMusic.com as its Los Angeles correspondent. She has been a reporter with the San Gabriel Valley News Group since 2007 writing features, breaking news, entertainment, sports and crime. Outside of the newsroom, she enjoys music, reading, going to the beach and spending time with family and friends.

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